The Essence of Sentience
by Vulcanblood
Summary: Four experiments, Per Starfleet orders, are placed on the Enterprise. These beings are anything but normal...  R&R!
1. Arrival

Summery: Gang's all here! My OCs plus the original characters, and some wild teenage genius's who are barely old enough to order pizza on their own! Hope you enjoy! R&R, Because we all know what will happen if you don't...

Starfleet Command: Order 79201-7: Recipient; Captain J. T. Kirk U.S.S. Enterprise

Command has found it necessary to place four junior officers under you jurisdiction as an official experiment. They will arrive shortly, in four standard hours from the time this correspondence is sent. An official Starfleet scientific observer will arrive three weeks after to observe the effects of circumstances on said experimentals, and will continue for one week before returning to Starbase IV.

**END MESSAGE**

Kirk screwed his face into a queried look, wondering what SC meant by 'junior officer'. Then he noticed the date and time on the message... Three hours ago... they had only one more hour to get quarters ready and prepare for their arrival. He alerted the yeomen to get extra quarters ready, and made his way to the transporter room, signaling Spock and McCoy to come along, comming Scotty on the way to get the transporter ready.

_Later..._

Four sparkly presences manifested themselves in the transporter room, and they materialized in a few seconds.

"Meh!" exhaled one of them, a short human female with short, curly blond hair "We're alive!"

"No dip, Sherlock." muttered a tallish human female with long golden brown hair, streaked with black. "This transporter unit is perfectly operational, and I even checked it for malfunctions before we beamed here. Unforeseeable malfunction would be illogical and unlikely." the blonde rolled her eyes irritatedly.

"Whatever you say Ms. Head Engineer, as long as my head stays on the right way."

"This is totally barvy" pouted a very tall blonde. Her hair was long and straight, with glittering ruby-red highlights. "I don't like my molecular structures being screwed with"

The fourth traveler, a Vulcan teenager, about the same age as the rest, looked on in distaste. He was also very tall, with jet black hair and piercing ice-blue eyes. He merely gave the tall blonde a look, and she winked back at him.

Kirk faced the young travelers, the short blonde, the tall blonde, and the girl with golden brown hair, who seemed to be their leader, and the Vulcan boy.

"Now I don't know exactly why you kids are here, but Starfleet put you under MY jurisdiction, so for the next five weeks, you are part of my crew. And you will follow orders as such."

"Yes sir" the four replied crisply.

"Now," continued the Captain, "what are your names?" he inquired

"My name is T'Lali" replied the brown-haired girl, "This is Katiline" she motioned to the short blonde girl, "This is Ruby" and T'Lali gestured to the tall blonde girl, who grinned and waved. "And this," she nodded at the young Vulcan, "is Serik."

"Thank you" Kirk acknowledged. "Yeoman Enno will show you to your quarters. I will contact you when you are needed."

The adolescents left the room with yeoman Enno, but Kirk, Spock and McCoy lingered.

"Well, Jim, the readings say they are perfectly healthy. Physically anyway" McCoy shrugged his shoulders. Kirk nodded and took this into account absentmindedly.

"Captain," interjected Spock, "the girl who calls herself T'Lali. Her's is a Vulcan name, and she is undoubtedly human, albeit an extremely intelligent one by her word choice and sentence structure." McCoy couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"Four profiles with infermation on the kids have been sent, Sir" observed Scotty, who downloaded them onto four data tapes for further reference.

"Briefing room. All of you" Kirk walked out of the room without waiting. In his mind, he was wondering...

_Where have I seen that face before?_


	2. The cost of victory

A/N: Hello dear lads and laddies! I have spent alllllllllll day thinking about this chapter, and after many trial runs through my head (and many episodes of psych to instill bravado and silliness into my brain), I present you with this chapter, crafted lovingly from sweat and blood (not really, that would be a bio-hazard :P) R&R, or be fed to the pigeon-owls and monkey-rats in this here cage. *rattles cage menacingly, grr-ing noises heard inside* Be smart. Don't get fed to the pigeon-owls and monkey-rats, leave me a review. No copping out, I _will_ know. I have _ways._

T'Lali flattened herself against the wall, panting breathlessly

"I... Will... Not... Take... Those... Pills!" she threw the words like daggers, and each struck home, tearing at the heart of her assailant/medicator

"Tee-laa, I must preform my duty. If I do not, you _know_ the consequences." Serik sat down holding his head in his hands. "I know better then any of us what will happen if we disobey orders. And disobeying orders would mean..." His voice broke before he could say it. _It would mean losing you, _his eyes seemed to say, but he was too Vulcan to say anything more. The medicine was life saving, but the side effects were almost to horrible to bear. The drugs brought on hallucinations, memory, pain, and nausea during the night hours, but during the day, a facade of normalcy, like a great brick wall, held up.

"Serik," she whispered, "listen to me." She put her hands on the sides of his head. "Some things-" she drew a breath and looked away into the middle distance. "-Are worth not being remembered." Her resolve was strong, but it was breaking. He had used her childhood nick-name, she was almost ready to crack.

"T'Lali, we need you to complete the mission. We cannot accomplish it by ourselves. Even now, Ruby and Katiline have doubts on our odds of completion."

"Fine" she sighed. "Gimme the damn pills." Serik handed her the clear orange plastic bottle. She popped open the cap, and took out one of the tiny blue tablets. She cringed visibly, and popped it into her mouth.

They took effect almost immediately, the colour draining from her face. She lay down on the bed, clutching her head. Serik was torn. He turned to leave, but looked back.

"N-no Serik." she stuttered. "Please stay, I- I'm scared." He walked back to the bed, and she grabbed his hand, squeezing it tightly. He didn't show it, but Serik was scared to. Terrified. Terrified to see her this way. He knew it would be a long night. T'Lali whimpered, and he pulled her close, like the little sister she had always been to him. Like the friend he had been since she was a very small child. He knew this was to be a long night, but only the first of many...

_But we must prevail, _he thought, _and prevail we shall_.

A single tear ran down his cheek as she sobbed and screamed into his broad shoulder, still holding her close, safe, secure.

_But at what cost?_


	3. Memories of times past I

T'Lali was lucky this time,

it was only memories...

floating through her head,

threatening to break through.

she remembered everything as her life flashed before her eyes,

even the beginning...

_She was only six months of age, she had been ripped from her birth mother and "raised" by a scientist to be part of _The Project._ It was an experiment that had been planned by the Head of Sciences at Starfleet Academy for many years, they had only been waiting for the right candidate for the experiment..._

_Experiment Alpha, That was what They called her. They were not cruel to her, but no kindness could be found either. Only a thirst for information and data. She was placed in a host family of the "highest functioning" species on the planet Vulcan at age two. She was a fast learner, and with the knowledge she gained, she prospered. She was at the top of her class, and had they been able to feel emotion, she would have made her foster parents proud..._

_Life was hard. She was different, and as a human child, she craved affection that she could never have. They taunted her for being human, trying to elicit emotional responses, but she kept her roiling emotions in check with the help of Serik, who lived next door. He was older, and wiser. She looked up to him as a brother and a friend. Her foster parents could offer nothing but advice and stoicism. _

_When T'Lali was thirteen, she hijacked a star-vette and left. She was gone for six months before she turned up on Beizen IV, working for a local mechanic. When the Vulcan authorities had come for her, the mechanic had kicked an officer in the face so T'Lali could run, But he was sedated by another officer, and T'Lali was caught soon after. Anger and sadness burned in her eyes all the way back to Vulcan. She had never been truly happy anywhere, but Beizen IV was different... _

_It was the first place she had been able to call home._


End file.
